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I liked her message, and with a sigh, pulled up my text with Zed and asked for his recipe. He sent it over a few minutes later, and I scanned the ingredients.
It was actually pretty simple, with just some rotini pasta, a store-bought Italian dressing, and some olives and tomatoes. I needed to get to work on it, but couldn’t do so without a trip to the store.
So, with another sigh, I glanced over at Rocco’s keys. They hung innocently from the hook beside the garage door, as if using them wouldn’t require driving a massive, unwieldy vehicle.
I reluctantly grabbed the keys, and then my purse. Before I could open the door to the garage, Rocky poked me with his nose.
Though exasperated, I let him lead me to the stairs, and then sat down at his insistence.
Waiting less-than-patiently, I watched him walk over to the fridge.
He jumped up onto the counter—somehow managing not to slide right the hell off—and then went up on his back legs as he reached up to the top of the fridge. He nudged a few boxes of cereal out of the way, sticking his face behind them to grab a big yellow padded envelope.
Jumping down in one smooth motion, he carried the envelope over to me and dropped it on my lap, his tail wagging.
I grabbed the envelope and opened the flap at the top, peering inside. When I saw what was in it, I dropped the damn thing like it was on fire.
Rocky calmly picked it up and put it back on my lap.
I didn’t even want to look at the thing.
“How much money is in there?” I demanded, my eyes narrowed at the wolf.
He shrugged a bit.
Damn wolf.
I opened the envelope and tried to flick through. My count wasn’t accurate, but from what I saw, it was at least seven or eight thousand dollars.
I had legitimately never had more than fifteen hundred in my bank account.
“I will hide this for Rocco,” I warned Rocky, “But I will not use this. This is your human’s money, and I’m not being bribed into this whole instant-platonic-mate situation. As insane as it might make me, I have entered into it willingly.”
Rocky scowled at me.
I scowled back.
After standing, I put the envelope back where it had been, hidden behind an assload of cereal boxes.
When the money was safe, I headed back into the garage. Although he’d made a show of not being happy with me, Rocky remained at my side, licking my arm every couple of seconds as if to remind me he was still there, and that he still liked me despite our fight.
I opened the garage and turned on the truck. Despite its rough outer appearance, it started right up without a problem. The engine sounded better than anything I’d driven in a lifetime, so I assumed it worked just fine.
Fighting a grimace, I turned my head over my shoulder and surveyed the driveway.
Backing up would be easy enough; I’d manage.
Rocky’s head rested on my lap as I pulled out, and he walked into the grocery store with me as I tugged my phone out of my pocket.
I needed money, which meant I needed a job. And if the only one available to me was with Rocco’s dad… well, then I’d have to take it.
Might as well get to know my platonic husband’s family anyway, right?
So I texted his parents that I was interested, before grabbing a shopping cart and starting through the aisles.
A job was a job, after all.
Dinner was fun.I was no longer anxious around the guys, and decided to forgive Tea for not warning me about the shitshow I’d walked into. It wasn’t as if they knew that I was going to end up as Rocco’s fated mate, after all.
